Naval Research Laboratory, Attn: Code 3230, 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20375-5326

A -- MACHINERY SYSTEMS AND AUTOMATION TO REDUCE MANNING SOL ONR BAA-0010 DUE 091599 POC Terry Young, Branch Head, ONR Code 254, (703)696-5389, Technical POC Frank Novak, ONR Code 334, (703) 696-8179 E-MAIL: click here, youngt@onr.navy.mil. (1) General Statement of Research Need The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is soliciting white papers for applied research that will lead to innovative designs of dependable and survivable automated machinery systems. This program is one of many that supports the Navy objective to significantly reduce ship life cycle cost through manning reduction. White papers are initially sought to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of an offeror in preparing a full proposal and are due 1700 hrs (EST) 28 May 1999. Offerors submitting the most promising white paper will be invited to submit a full technical and cost proposal on all or part of their white paper submission. However, any such invitation does not assure a subsequent award. It is anticipated several contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions will be awarded by 1 October 1999. This BAA announcement does not preclude an offeror from submitting a full technical and cost proposal or white paper after 28 May 1999. White papers and/orproposals received after 28 May 1999 may not be considered for funding under the Fiscal Year 2000 program. Submittals in response to this BAA are welcome until 15 September 1999. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the white papers. The engineering plant on the next generation combatant (DD21 and beyond) is envisioned as minimally manned, and possessing fight-while-hurt capability. ONR is pursuing both incremental and revolutionary improvements in the propulsion and auxiliary systems, broadly categorized as thermal, energy, environmental, and support. It is desirable, but not essential, that the new designs will be architecturally compatible with zonal distribution concepts, incorporate new technologies, or lead to reduction or especially elimination of pervasive systems and hardware. ONR is seeking concurrent technology development that will lead to cost effective autonomous or minimally manned operation of the engineering plant. This effort is not limited to, but will likely incorporate component level intelligence, human supervision capability, and information integration. Confidence in the robustness of the aforementioned systems will be key to the realization of the cost savings through manning reduction, because Navy ships sail into hostile regions. Therefore, ONR is looking for innovations that enhance dependability and survivability of the integrated machinery and automation systems and infrastructure, without incurring prohibitive costs. The cost of life-cycle ownership is an increasing consideration in the design of future engineering plants. Therefore, it will be considered highly desirable when a proposed approach incorporates COTS technology, or is leveraged against other programs with similar objectives. Models that enable illustration such as cost benefit analysis or top down functional analysis are invited. (2) Criteria for Selecting Proposals, their Relative Importance, and the Method of Evaluation White papers will be evaluated using the following criteria which are listed in descending order of importance: (1) overall socioeconomic, scientific and technical merit; (2) potential for the offeror's approach to meet Navy requirements; (3) the offeror's capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques, and unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving the proposed objectives; (4) the qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed key personnel who will be assigned to carry out the proposed tasks; (5) budgetary cost and availability of funds. (3) Instructions for Preparation and Submission of White Papers White papers should include the following items: (A) Cover page, clearly labeled "WHITE PAPER", including BAA title and date, title, administrative and technical points of contact along with telephone and fax numbers, (B) Three page maximum summary of the technical ideas for the proposed research, (C) Two page maximum summary of the deliverables, schedule and milestones associated with the proposed research,including rough estimates of cost for each year of the effort and total cost, (D) Four page maximum listing of key personnel and their qualifications along with the approximate percentage of time to be expended by each person during each contract year, (E) Technical rationale and approach, six pages maximum, which contains arguments to substantiate claims made in item (B) and is consistent with item (C). Security Requirements -- While most aspects of this BAA are unclassified, work on some portions may require the contractor to receive, generate, and store material up to the level of SECRET. This requirement will be handled on a case by case basis. White papers shall be submitted to Office of Naval Research, Logistics Program Officer, Code 334, Attention: LCDR Frank Novak, 800 N. Quincy Street, Ballston Centre Tower One, Room 507-8, Arlington, VA 22217-5660. Offerors must state in their white paper that it is submitted in response to this BAA. Three hard copies of each white paper along with a copy stored in Microsoft Word 6.0 on a 3.5" DOS-formatted floppy disk must be provided. White papers and full proposal submissions will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 15.413, applicable law, and DoD/DoN regulations. Technical questions may be directed to LCDR Frank Novak, ONR334, (703)696-8179, FAX (703)696-0308, e-mail novakf@onr.navy.mil. All related business questions should be sent to Terry Young via E-mail at youngt@onr.navy.mil. Teams that include participants from industry, academia, Navy or other Government laboratories are desired, but not necessary. In cases where a government agency or laboratory are included as part of a proposed team, the government portion will be funded separately and will not be included in the offeror's cost proposal. Government agencies will not be in direct competition with industry. The Standard Industrial Classification code is 8731 with the small business size standard of 500 employees. Full cost proposals that exceed $500,000 submitted by allbut small businesses must be accompanied by a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9. For awards made as contracts, evaluation of the socioeconomic merits will include the extent of commitment in providing meaningful subcontracting opportunities for small business, hubzone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, woman-owned small business concerns, and historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions. The intended funding to be made available for the 4-year duration of this program is estimated to be $12 million. It is expected that multiple awards under contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other transactions covering a 12 to 24 month period for research and development in the requested areas will be made. Longer range funding will be considered in cases where the schedule supports transition to a technology demonstration within three years (projected BA3 expenses are acceptable). A BA3 program that follows Reduced Ship Crew by Virtual Presence (RSVP) and Damage Control-Automation to Reduce Manning (DC-ARM), and is closely tied to Electrically Reconfigurable Ship (ERS), is expected to be formulated. This BAA provides no funding for white paper development purposes. Unsuccessful offeror's white papers will be acknowledged. White papers will not be returned after evaluation. This CBD notice itself constitutes the BAA as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). Unless otherwise stated herein, neither additional written information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded. No portion of this BAA has been set aside for HBCU and MI participants, though their participation is encouraged. Posted 04/08/99 (W-SN317577). (0098)

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